Russia eyes Brazil for high technology cooperation - Rogozin

BRASILIA, December 18. /TASS/. Russia offers Brazil active co-operation in high-tech spheres, including in space exploration, shipbuilding and aviation sector, and expects “adoption of important agreements” related to missile defence technology, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who heads a Russian official delegation to Brazil, told reporters on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Rogozin had a meeting with Vice President Michel Temer, Brazil’s co-chair of the bilateral High-Level Commission on Co-operation, and Brazilian Defence Minister Celso Amorim. Along with this, he visited the GLONASS ground station for Russian global navigation system’s correction and monitoring at Brasilia University. “Brazil is a developed in high technology country, for instance Embraer produces modern aircraft carriers of various types, successfully competing with world’s aviation building leaders, including Russian ones,” Rogozin said adding that Brazil shows an interest in “technology in which Russia has rock-solid positions in the world.” “You know that they /the Brazilians/ do not want to buy finished goods but would like to participate in designing and localisation in their country of those Russian technologies,” the Russian deputy prime minister said mentioning the space sphere. “The infrastructure of GLONASS navigation systems has been developing in Brazil and the Brazilian leadership supports us in improving this system,” Rogozin said underscoring that Russia offered Brazil “an active co-participation in the market of space services - not only in the navigation systems but in mapmaking, communications, the Earth’s remote sensing and many others.” “Brazil’s plans to develop its own space launching pad are of great interest to us, and today at the talks we offered suggestions of mutual interest, in our opinion,” he said. Russia’s military partnership with Brazil is not reduced to supplies of finished goods to the South American country as it “co-participates in establishing a service centre for repair and maintenance works on Russian helicopters.” “Brazil has chosen three countries for its military and technical co-operation so as to buy differentiated technology - among them, France, Russia and Sweden,” Rogozin said. In the shipbuilding sector, Brazilian and Russian blueprints and technology aimed at exploring oil and gas deposits have good compatibility, in spite of given tasks to be exploited under different climatic and geological conditions. On Tuesday the Russian delegation held negotiations with top managers of major shipbuilding companies, which fulfil civilian and military orders in Rio de Janeiro. On Thursday, at the tech park of the city of Sao Jose dos Campos in the state of Sao Paulo, Rogozin is expected to visit organisations and companies, in particular Embraer, Mectron and Avibras, Brazilian high-tech leaders, ranking high in the defence industry sector of this South American country. Rogozin said that ahead of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to Russia scheduled for next year “new partnership agreements and deals should be coordinated and sealed in the sectors of space, nuclear sphere and aviation, in shipbuilding and in electronic engineering” on the basis of strategic partnership between Russia and Brazil. Read more